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Author of the THEODOSIA and NATHANIEL FLUDD, BEASTOLOGIST series, as well as the upcoming, GRAVE MERCY, about teen assassins in medieval France. I love to talk about writing, inspiration, and the human psyche.

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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Write about what the next scene has to accomplish; what the scene goals are, what the source of conflict might be, what your heroine needs to do, or what clues have to be revealed.

Do some character journaling of what the POV character will be feeling in the next scene. How will the actions of the upcoming scene make her feel? How will those emotions manifest themselves physically? You can also do this for a scene you’ve already written but want to deepen.

Do some character journaling to try and identify your characters internal wounds; what emotional scars does she bear and how do those influence her perceptions of herself and how she interacts with the world.

Write descriptions. If you know you have a new, unusual setting coming up, or want to create an eerie atmosphere, try just writing that description. Since descriptions aren’t usually in the heat of the moment of a scene, you can write them separately, then weave them in later.

Do lists of twenty. If you have a plot twist you need to come up with, brainstorm a list of twenty possibilities. Need a character flaw? Brainstorm a list of twenty. Perhaps you’re looking for a deep, dark incident in your character’s past that motivates their current actions; brainstorm a list of twenty.

The great thing about a list of twenty is that the first 5 or 6 ideas will be fairly common, and the last few will most likely be wild or over the top, just because you were really having to stretch to come up with twenty. But somewhere between numbers 7 and 15 probably lie a really good, unique plot twist or character trait.